May 22, 2014

CIDRAP: News scan for May 22

A 2-year-old boy died of H5N1 avian flu in Indonesia last month, the WHO said in an update posted yesterday.

The boy, from Central Java, first had symptoms on Apr 10, was hospitalized Apr 13, and died Apr 20, the WHO said in its most recent "Influenza at the Human-Animal Interface" report, dated May 5. "In the weeks before disease onset of the child, some backyard chickens died around the house," the report said.

The boy's death represents the first case of H5N1 this year in Indonesia, a country that has seen as many as 55 confirmed cases in a year (in 2006), but last year reported only 3.

In the report, the WHO placed the global number of lab-confirmed H5N1 cases since 2003 at 665, 392 of which have been fatal. That number represents 15 new cases and 6 newly reported deaths since the agency last updated its case count, on Jan 24.

The 15 cases not included in the WHO's Jan 24 count reflect 9 in Cambodia, 3 in Egypt, and 1 each in Canada, Vietnam, and China, according to previous news reports. In addition, Hong Kong officials on Feb 25 reported an H5 infection in a child in mainland China but did not issue a follow-up report about the specific strain.

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A 2-year-old boy died of H5N1 avian flu in Indonesia last month, the WHO said in an update posted yesterday.

The boy, from Central Java, first had symptoms on Apr 10, was hospitalized Apr 13, and died Apr 20, the WHO said in its most recent "Influenza at the Human-Animal Interface" report, dated May 5. "In the weeks before disease onset of the child, some backyard chickens died around the house," the report said.

The boy's death represents the first case of H5N1 this year in Indonesia, a country that has seen as many as 55 confirmed cases in a year (in 2006), but last year reported only 3.

In the report, the WHO placed the global number of lab-confirmed H5N1 cases since 2003 at 665, 392 of which have been fatal. That number represents 15 new cases and 6 newly reported deaths since the agency last updated its case count, on Jan 24.

The 15 cases not included in the WHO's Jan 24 count reflect 9 in Cambodia, 3 in Egypt, and 1 each in Canada, Vietnam, and China, according to previous news reports. In addition, Hong Kong officials on Feb 25 reported an H5 infection in a child in mainland China but did not issue a follow-up report about the specific strain.